New Network Guidelines – Tell Us What You Think!

A month ago, we updated you about our plans for the Open Knowledge Network in 2016. One of the firsts steps this year will be to update our network guidelines. For us, guidelines are important because they help us to define our mutual causes and help us strive to achieve our goal. It also help us to set expectations. In Facebook terms,when the guidelines are not clear, the relationship status is “complicated”. When the guidelines are clear, then both sides can decide if they want to agree to the holy grail of statuses: “In a relationship”.

Today, we are happy to bring the Open Knowledge Network Guidelines to its first public consultation. We see the Network Guidelines as a continuous processes of learning and feedback. It is a love document that will be reviewed constantly, and there is no better way to start it then consulting with you! In the past month Open Knowledge International staff and Open Knowledge Chapters have reviewed and commented the guidelines draft. Now it’s your turn!

What will you find in the guidelines?

For starters, we have defined the different entities in the network. Then , we explained what will happen to non active groups and how we they can be revived, we also defined responsibilities and support for each entity of the network. Lastly, we explain how to join the network.

In our point of view, the responsibilities and support are a milestone in our network. They help us to commit to one another. In the new guidelines, most of the responsibilities of each entity are regarded to communication and how each of the entities update the rest of the network about their work.. We hope that with constant communication and updates, we can see more collaboration, build capacity and give more power to open knowledge activities around the world.

What’s next?
Please take a look and comment on the guidelines in this Google Doc
We will review the guidelines in the next month and then upload them to the Open Knowledge International website.
In addition, we will contact current members of the network and will update them of the changes in the guidelines.